Where Islam spreads, freedom dies

Tareq Oubrou, the grand imam of Bordeaux, is being interviewed about the Mohamed Merah jihad shootings by Libération, the French left-wing daily.

Interviewer: As an imam, do you feel a responsibility vis-a-vis young people?

Imam: Of course. First of all we need to do real work on the ground, to listen and teach. And pay attention to what we say. We know that some young people are fragile and they could find flaws in our speeches to express their violence. There is always a risk, mentally unbalanced people, young people whose attitude cannot be explained by psychiatry. They often have a history of delinquency and are looking for a sort of redemption in radicalisation. Above all, I believe that everyone must assume their responsibilities. Starting with schools. French history has to be rewritten in light of the Muslim presence today. Whether in astrophysics, mathematics or philosophy, Islam's contribution to western civilisation is immense! This would permit young people from a Muslim culture to recognise themselves in the curriculum taught in schools and not feel stigmatised.

Of course this is exactly what happened in Britain. In the wake of the 7/7 jihad attacks, the government commissioned a study into how jihad could be prevented. The final report made the same recommendation: weave Islamic propaganda into virtually every part of the British school curriculum so that Muslims won't feel so alienated from everyone else.

The message this communicates to Muslims is clear: Jihad gets you respect. It gets governments to pay attention to you and pander to your hurt feelings. It wins a special status for your ideology in our institutions and brings money to its representative organisations.

Haha! We have to rewrite history each time to accommodate the terrorist group du jour. When the Chinese start up, we'll need to change the history books to say they invented everything. Then it'll be the Eskimos, Incas, pygmies, etc.